Before He Cheats, A Confession Is Made
by Dreams Shape the World
Summary: OneShot.  This would have been cool to see on the season finale...


**DISCLAIMER: I do not own **_**One Tree Hill **_

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The bottle spun as he looked at it. _Please land on who I want you to_, he begged silently.

At last, the bottle chose a destination and his gaze followed where its lid had ended up pointing to.

_Yes! _he inwardly cheered. Quickly, he jumped off the roof and walked until he and the direction of the bottle were aligned.

She sensed someone behind her and turned around. "Mouth!"

Her lips were so inviting, so lush. He leaned in and planted a firm kiss on her. "I've always wanted to do that," he admitted.

Brooke Davis looked confused. "Mouth--"

"Before you speak, just hear me out," he pleaded. "I have always loved you, even when I didn't know I did."

_Is this really happening? _Brooke questioned to herself. _I mean, is Mouth actually saying these things to me? Well, what if…. No, no, I like Chase…don't I?_

"But, Mouth, I have a boyfriend. Do you recall a guy named Chase?"

"Well, yeah, but—"

"I'm sorry, Mouth. I just don't feel the same way about you." _Right? I like Chase, right?_

"Well, at least I gave it a shot," Mouth said surprised that he could muster up anything remotely intelligent after getting his heart broken. He had given his feelings to her on a silver platter, but she had unknowingly crushed them into a million different pieces.

"Sorry. But you're still a really good friend, all right? See you around, Mouth." _Why am I getting so damn confused? I know I like Chase, of course I do…._

"Yeah, okay. Later," Mouth managed.

He was her "friend". Wasn't that how it always went with him? He could count his friends on more than a couple of fingers, but when it came to a girlfriend, his hands formed a very large circle. He had almost had one in the form of Shelly the "Clean Teen", but she had become uncomfortable and backed out. Rachel was cool, but he really couldn't find any kind of commitment with her. Which brought Mouth to one question: _Will I ever have a long-term relationship where love is concerned?_

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Mouth's declaration of love had definitely startled her. She had never expected anything like that.

Her mind was really jumbled. She tried to picture Chase and his drop-dead gorgeous smile, but every time she tried, all she could see was Mouth.

There was only one thing to do to put her head back in the right place: she had to find Chase.

"Peyton, have you seen Chase?" she asked her newly restored best friend in passing.

"Yeah, I think I saw him over by the stairwell earlier," Peyton answered.

"Okay. Thanks."

"Brooke?"

"Ya?"

"What's wrong?"

"I'll tell you later, okay?"

"I guess."

Peyton's questioning stare followed Brooke until she reached the stairs. She did not see Chase anywhere around it.

"Hey, have you seen Chase?" she asked some girl from her chemistry class.

"Yeah, I think he went up to one of the bedrooms," what's-her-face answered, smacking what smelled strongly of Nicotine gum.

"Gee, thanks," Brooke responded with a touch of annoyance. This place had a lot of bedrooms; was she supposed to look in all of them for one single person?

"No problem," the girl said, seemingly oblivious to Brooke's hidden tone. She moved on to presumably flirt with one of the guys spray-painting the place.

Brooke checked a few bedrooms until coming to a halt across from one where laughter was undoubtedly echoing. She turned the knob.

The surprise and anger came to her in full force. One thing was at least certain—she had found Chase.

"Brooke--" Chase said as he noticed her standing in the doorway.

"Don't start, Chase. How can you state your affection for me and then jump into bed with this slut?!"

Shelly jumped up to defend herself. "Exc_uuuse_ me?"

"You heard me. What were you doing my boyfriend for, huh?"

"Brooke, don't call Shelly a slut, it's my fault, I can explain--"

"Cut the crap, Chase. I saw you two getting hot and heavy in bed, and my vision doesn't lie. We're over. Buh bye." She felt the urge to slap him, and willingly obliged. She figured she should slap Shelly too, for good measure.

"The worst part is, I thought I could actually love you. I thought you weren't like other guys."

"Brooke--"

"Goodbye, Chase." She slammed the door in response to his startled look and ran down the stairs, blinking back tears.

"Brooke!" Chase had chosen to chase her.

She ran to the only one of her friends, besides Rachel, whom did not have their other half with them.

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He saw her sprinting toward him. He saw Chase running after her and her scared expression. He knew something had to be amiss…was it not less than an hour ago that she had turned him down because of Chase? And now she looked as if she could barely stand the idea of being left alone with him. Mouth knew something must have happened. Brooke was not one to change her mind so easily.

"Mouth!" she called, practically leaping into his arms.

Protective instincts clicked into gear as he looked at her terrified expression.

"Brooke, what happened?"

Before she could answer, Chase burst into closer view.

"Get away from my girlfriend!" he screamed.

Brooke turned around and looked at Chase defiantly.

"I am _not _your girlfriend," she hissed.

"Brooke, I know what it looked like. Just please give me a chance to explain!" Chase told her.

"You were in bed with Shelly! There's nothing to explain! You looked absolutely delighted before I busted you!"

With each word Brooke spoke, Mouth was able to understand the situation better and feel Brooke's pain.

"Brooke--" Chase started for the millionth time.

"Get away from her, Chase," Mouth said with a stern expression, wanting to spare Brooke more heartache.

"No, I have to explain. Shelly was in tears about something, I was just comforting her--"

"Sure you were!" Brooke yelled. "Comforting her by doing her, eh? Ooh, nice policy, you do that to all the girls?!"

"Go away, Chase," Mouth said.

"Don't tell me what to do, Mouth," Chase responded, pushing him.

"I didn't want to do this," Mouth said as he punched Chase in the face.

"Stay away from Brooke," he told him.

"Thanks," Brooke whispered.

"Any time," Mouth answered honestly. "You okay?"

"I do feel kind of betrayed, but I think I realized something."

"What?"

"Well, before Chase decided to cheat, you told me you loved me."

"Yeah, and you said you didn't feel the same."

"Well, I didn't think I did. Only…when I was looking for Chase, I couldn't stop thinking of you. And yeah, when I caught Chase in bed with Shelly, I did feel upset. But I think maybe a small part of me felt relieved. And the more I think about it now, the more I realize I love you too. It's not a rebound love; that I'm sure of. The feelings were there, they were starting to develop, and they just intensified by the confrontation with Chase."

"Oh Brooke, you have no idea how long I've been waiting to hear you say that."

"I love you, Mouth."

"I love you, too, Brooke Davis."

This time, Mouth's kiss was not unrequited.

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**Well, what did you think? Maybe you can let me know by pressing the small purple button….**

**Luv ya! April Dawn**


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